The Nightmare Before Christmas (Jarida AU)
by kade32
Summary: BASED on the 1993 film of the same name and the artwork done by kiome-yasha on DeviantArt and Tumblr. Jack Frost, the Pumpkin King, grows bored with the same thing every year on Halloween, so he tries out a different environment: Christmas. Meanwhile, the Boogeyman, Pitch, has sinister plans for old St. Nick.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Nightmare Before Christmas. I was impaired by the artwork provided by kiome-yasha. Let's just say it stroked my interest the most.**

* * *

 **CAST:**  
 **Jack Frost as Jack Skellington**  
 **Merida DunBroch as Sally**  
 **Queen Elinor as Dr. Finklestein**  
 **Sandy as the Mayor of Halloween Town**  
 **Pitch as Oogie Boogie**  
 **North as Santa Claus**  
 **Harris, Hubert and Hamish as Lock, Shock and Barrel  
Bunnymund as the Easter Bunny**

 _ **The Townsfolk:**_ _  
_ **The Vampires:**

 ** _Count Dracula_  
** ** _Barnabas Collins_ \- ** (from _Dark Shadows_ )  
 ** _Lestat de Lioncourt_ \- ** (from _Interview with a Vampire_ )  
 ** _Vicente_ \- ** (from _30 Days of Night_ )  
 ** _Mavis Dracula_**

 **Lawrence Talbot/The Wolfman  
** **Winnie, Mary and Sarah Sanderson -** (from _Hocus Pocus_ )  
 **Imhotep  
** **Freddy Krueger -** (from _A Nightmare on Elm Street_ )  
 **Jason Voorhees -** (from _Friday the 13th_ )  
 **Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde  
** **The Headless Horseman  
** **Chucky and Tiffany -** (from _Child's Play_ )  
 **Michael Myers -** (from _Halloween_ )  
 **Pinhead -** (from _Hellraiser_ )  
 **Leatherface -** (from _The Texas Chainsaw Massacre_ )  
 **Ash Williams -** (from _Evil Dead_ )  
 **Samara Morgan -** (from _The Ring/Ringu_ )  
 **Carrie White -** (from _Carrie_ )  
 **Matilda Dixon -** (from _Darkness Falls_ )  
 **The Addams Family:**

 _ **Gomez Addams  
** **Morticia Addams  
** **Wednesday Addams  
** **Pugsley Addams  
** **Fester Addams  
** **Lurch  
**_ ** _Grandmama_**

 **Djinn -** (from _Wishmaster_ )  
 **Cujo -** (from _Cujo_ )  
 **Pumpkinhead -** (from _Pumpkinhead_ )  
 **Hannibal Lector -** (from _Silence of the Lambs_ )  
 **Slenderman -** (from _Creepypasta_ )  
 **Pyramid Head -** (from _Silent Hill_ )  
 **Ghostface -** (from _Scream_ )  
 **John Kramer/Jigsaw -** (from _Saw_ )  
 **Kayako Saeki -** (from The Grudge)  
 **Pennywise the Dancing Clown -** (from _It_ )  
 **The Creature from the Black Lagoon  
** **Susan Murphy/The 50 Ft. Woman  
** **The Fly -** (from _The Fly_ )  
 **The Creeper -** (from _Jeepers Creepers_ )  
 **Jack Torrence -** (from _The Shining_ )  
 **The Blob -** (from _The Blob_ )  
 **The Thing -** (from _The Thing_ )  
 **Alma Wade -** (from _F.E.A.R._ )  
 **Bughuul -** (from _Sinister_ )  
 **Victor Crowley -** (from _Hatchet_ )  
 **ChromeSkull -** (from _Laid to Rest_ )  
 **The Miner -** (from _My Bloody Valentine_ )  
 **Papa Jupiter -** (from _The Hills Have Eyes_ )  
 **Lola "Princess" Stone -** (from _The Loved Ones_ )

* * *

 _"Twas' a long time ago, longer now that it seems,_

 _in a place that perhaps you've seen in your dreams,_

 _For the story you are about to be told_

 _took place in the holiday worlds of old._

 _Now, you have probably wondered where holidays come from._

 _If you haven't, I say it's time you've begun."_

In the middle of a circle of trees, each of had a door concealing a portal that lead to the worlds of holidays and each door was shaped as the symbol of that respective holiday. There was one like an easter egg, a turkey and a Christmas tree. Coming up to the one shaped as a jack-o'-lantern, it opened on itself and we are taken into the darkness of it.

Inside of it lies the mysterious Halloween Town, where said holiday takes place. It was not a place you'd be familiar with or one that you'd possibly want to visit. Everything about it and in it was absolutely strong, creepy and downright scary. It was inhabited by many infamous monsters. Ones that are traditional in the holiday, some that are a part of myths and folklore and some that you've probably seen in horror movies and such. There were a lot of creepy, twisted buildings. Well, at least at the capital of the town. Leafless, deformed trees sprouted the land, as if preparing to grab you if you got close. It was mostly cloudy with dark thunderclouds or swirling clouds covering the full moon at night. The inhabitants prepare for Halloween night every year and it was their natural goal to make it as frightening as possible. And that's where our story come in. Beginning on that one Halloween.

A pumpkin-headed scarecrow with an all, but friendly grin carved on it's face stood guard in a dark cemetery. It is suddenly swiveled around by the bitter wind as the witching hour began and ominous music began to play. On the tombstones of the cemetery, eerie shadows creeped up and began singing.

 _ **GHOULS: Boys and girls of every age  
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?**_

 _ **Come with us and you will see,  
This our town of Halloween  
**_  
A group of ghosts flew through the gates leading into the dark town itself. Pumpkins with various expression were impaled on the spikes of a metal fence.

 ** _GHOULS: This is Halloween, this is Halloween  
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night!_**

 ** _This is Halloween, everybody make a scene._** **  
** ** _Trick or treat 'til the neighbors gonna die of fright._**

 ** _It's our town, everybody scream!_** **  
** ** _In our town of Halloween_**

Then an unseen monster sings one verse while hiding underneath a bed in a dark bedroom. It's sharp canines are shown as well as it's red eyes as they suddenly glimmered.

 _ **MONSTER UNDER THE BED: I am the one hiding under your bed**_ _  
_ _ **Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red**_

Then another monster sang another verse from underneath a flight of stairs. It was deformed in appearance and seemed devoid of human features.

 ** _MONSTER UNDER THE STAIRS: I am the one hiding under your stairs_** **  
** ** _Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair.  
_**

 _ **This is Halloween, this is Halloween  
Halloween, Halloween  
Halloween, Halloween!**_

Inside a living room of some sort with a grandfather clock at the center, four vampires emerged from four sections of the room. There was Count Dracula, the self-proclaimed leader of the vampires, Lestat de Lioncourt, Vicente and Barnabas Collins. Walking with them is Dracula's teenage daughter, Mavis, who wore a black cloak like her dad.

 ** _VAMPIRES: In this town, we call home,_** **  
** ** _Everyone hail to the pumpkin song._** **  
**  
There stood a small man with golden skin and hair in a business suit and a rather long and skinny top hat. This was Mayor Sanderson "Sandy" Mansnoozie, the bipolar and narcoleptic political leader of Halloween Town.

 _ **MAYOR SANDY: In this town! Don't we love it know?**_ _  
_ _ **Everyone's waiting for the next surprise!**_

 _ **GHOULS: Round that corner, man**_ _  
_ _ **Hiding in the trash can**_ _  
_ _ **Some things waiting to pounce and...Scream!**_ _  
_  
A black cat wandered around an alleyway when the humanoid, mutant, Fly, popped out of a garbage pail, scaring the cat away. Then Lawrence Talbot/The Wolfman smashed through a wall in his black-haired werewolf form, while the mummy, Imhotep, emerged from a manhole.

 ** _WOLFMAN: This is Halloween!  
THE FLY: Red and black  
IMHOTEP: And slimy green  
WOLFMAN: Aren't you scared?_**

The Sanderson witch sisters, Winifred, Mary and Sarah rode on their broomsticks to sing another verse.

 ** _SANDERSONS: Well, that's just fine!_** **  
** ** _Say it once, say it twice_** **  
** ** _Take a chance and roll the dice_** **  
** ** _Ride with the moon in the dead of night_**

The witches flew past a possessed, man-eating tree with skeletons hanging by the neck on nooses from his branches.

 ** _MAN-EATING TREE: Everybody scream! Everybody SCREAM!  
SKELETONS: In our town of Halloween!  
_**  
Then a sinister-looking clown, Pennywise the Dancing Clown, rode on a unicycle and carried a balloon with a dark, toothy grin on his face.

 _ **PENNYWISE: I am the clown with the terrifying face!  
**_ _ **Here in a flash and gone without a trace!**_

 _ **GHOULS: I am the "Who?" when you call, "Who's there?"**_ _  
_ _ **I am the wind blowing through your hair**_ _  
_ _ **I am the shadow of the moan at night**_ _  
_ _ **Filling your dreams to the brim with fright.**_ _  
_ _ **This is Halloween, this is Halloween**_ _  
_ _ **Halloween, Halloween**_ _  
_ _ **Halloween, Halloween!**_

The rest of the townsfolk, involving Dr. Jekyll, The Creeper, Freddy Krueger, Slenderman, Samara Morgan, Hannibal Lector, etc., danced through the town gates. Two young children, Wednesday and Pugsley Addams, were playing with a guillotine.

 _ **WEDNESDAY AND PUGLSEY: Tender lumplings everywhere  
Life's no fun without a good scare.**_

Their parents, Gomez and Morticia, joined in.

 ** _GOMEZ: That's our job_** **  
** ** _MORTICIA: But we're not mean_** **  
** ** _BOTH: In our town of Halloween_**

 ** _MAYOR SANDY: In this Town! Don't we love it now?_** **  
** ** _Everybody's waiting for the next surprise!_**

Then Jason was pulling the scarecrow through the forming crowd which was riding on a straw horse. A young girl with a mane of red, curly hair was watching just as expectedly as the rest. But she seemed the most anxious. She stood behind the man-eating tree and Kayako Saeki.

 _ **GHOULS: Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back**_  
 _ **And scream like a banshee and make you jump out of your skin**_  
 _ **This is Halloween, everybody scream!**_  
 _ **Won't ya please make way for a very special guy?**_

The scarecrow grabbed a torch and swallowed it, setting itself ablaze before it stood on the horse to dance as it burned. The crowd shielded themselves as they watched in awe when it leaped forward at them.

 ** _GHOULS: Our man, Jack, is king of the pumpkin patch  
Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now!  
This is Halloween, this Halloween  
Halloween, Halloween  
Halloween, Halloween!_**

The flaming scarecrow then jumped a few meters into the air, did a twirl and dove into the glowing green fountain. Wednesday and Pugsley came to it and looked in it. Then, a young boy with snow white, spiky hair and wearing a black, gothic Victorian style suit rose slowly from the fountain as the entire crowd sang the final verse.

 ** _WEDNESDAY AND PUGSLEY: In this town, we call home,  
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song  
GHOULS: La, la, la, la-la la, la, la, la-la la, la, la, la-la la, la-la la, Wheeeeeee!_**

Everyone applauded and cheered at the boy's appearance. The music finally died down as everyone celebrated their success. This was Jack Frost, known as the Pumpkin King, who was the mascot of the town and icon to the Halloween season. Everyone idolized him as he gave the most scares and screams every year on Halloween night. The red-haired girl applauded with the rest of the townsfolk with a smile on her face. The Sandersons laughed. ** _  
_**

"It's over!" Pennywise cried.

"We did it!" Ash agreed.

Jason and Pennywise did a chest bump.

"Wasn't that terrifying?" The Wolfman asked his friends.

"What a night!" Dr. Jekyll and Jack Torrence said together.

"Great Halloween, everybody!" Mayor Sandy replied with glee to his people as Jack climbed down from the fountain next to the short man.

"I believe it was our most horrible yet! Thank you, everyone!" said Jack.

"Oh, no!" The Mayor rebutted. "Thank _you_ , Jack. For your brilliant leadership."

"Not at all, Mayor."

"You were a scream, Jack." Vicente told him and Barnabas nodded in agreement.

"You're a witch's fondest dream!" Sarah Sanderson added dreamily.

"You made wall's fall, Jack." Mary Sanderson said with a hand on his shoulder.

"No doubt about it." Winifred Sanderson said along with her sisters.

"Well, I..." Jack was about to say.

"A real chip off the old block." Gomez commented.

"I most certainly agree." Morticia agreed.

"We could've never have done it without you." said Susan Murphy, the 50 ft. Woman.

"You are a true pumpkin king!" Samara Morgan chirped.

"T-Thanks." Jack said nervously.

The red-haired girl, whose name is Merida, watched Jack from afar with wonder. She is a humanoid rag-doll girl who's had a deep crush on Jack for so long. She was suddenly grabbed by someone.

"The deadly nightshade you slipped me wore off, Merida." Dr. Elinor Dunbroch, a paralyzed middle-aged woman with long brown hair tied in two ponytails replied gripping the girl's arm. She wore a lab coat, glasses, black gloves and black boots and sat in a wheelchair. This was the mad scientist who created Merida. They never seem to get along, but Elinor always looked after her as her own daughter. She always tried to keep her from leaving their home. But all Merida wanted was to be free so she made it her best to slip away as best she could. Even if it meant sedating her creator/mother.

"Let go!" Merida squeaked, trying to get free from her grasp.

"You're not ready for so much excitement!" Elinor scowled sternly, tightening her grip.

"Yes, I am!" Merida argued as her "mother" turned and began to drag her away with her.

"You're coming with me!" Elinor growled.

"No, I'm not!" Merida screamed and then loosens the stitches from the top of her arm, causing it to fall off and Elinor to fall out of her wheelchair and onto the ground.

"Come back here, young lady!" Elinor shouted holding her disembodied arm, which proceeded to punch her repeatedly on her head.

The citizens were still giving Jack compliments as the Pumpkin King himself was backing away as they advanced closer to him, making him grow increasingly nervous.

"Oh, Jack, you make wounds ooze and flesh crawl." mused the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

"You make me want to cuddle you all night long." exclaimed Mavis with lust.

"The werewolves howl with delight at your presence." Matilda Dixon said.

"T-Thank you, thank you, thank you very much." Jack stuttered with the best positivity he could muster. All he wanted was to be alone right now. Then as if by some miracle, Mayor Sandy started announcing the ceremony. With their attention turned to the Mayor, Jack took the chance and scurried off.

" _Hold it! We haven't given out the prizes yet! Our first award goes to the vampires for most blood drained in a single evening._ " Mayor Sandy said over the speakers to his hearse.

"That's you, dad." Mavis smiled, urging her father to step forward.

"As always." Barnabas rolled his eyes.

"Jealous much?" asked Count Dracula smugly.

" _A frightening and honorable mention goes to the fabulous Dark Lagoon leeches._ " continued Mayor Sandy.

Everyone applauded while Jack hid behind a corner, hoping that no one saw him make his exit. He sighed with relief and wiped his forehead. It was like this every year. Jack would make a tremendous entrance and so forth and everyone would just smother him with compliments and attention so much that he couldn't have any time alone. Not that he didn't want it, but it was just too overbearing. The down-in-the-dumps Jack somberly walked passed the skeleton jazz band, putting a coin into their change cup.

"Nice work, pumpkin boy." One of the players stated to him.

Jack sighed and said, "Yeah, I guess so. Just like last year and the year before that and the year before that."

He left through the gates as they opened for him to find a place of peace and quiet. It was more than what he deserved after all the hard work. The fame, the glory, the positive feedback, what more could he get? More importantly, what more _couldn't_ he get? The town's cemetery was the only place Jack could find solace. Merida was picking at her stump where her arm fell off when she recoiled in shock at hearing the squeaking of the gates opening, thinking Elinor had found her and hid behind a tombstone. But she saw that it was only Jack, letting a smile grow on her lips. Making his way through the multitude of tombstones and whatnot, a small ghost of a white German Shepherd dog named Bolt arose from his grave and smiled upon seeing his master. Jack stood by the statue of a gargoyle and felt his dead heart erupt into song.

 _ **JACK: There are few who deny at what I do I am the best**_  
 _ **For my talents are renowned far and wide.**_  
 _ **When it comes to surprises in the moonlit night,**_  
 _ **I excel without ever even trying.**_

He then hopped from tombstone to tombstone before hopping back down to the ground.

 ** _With the slightest little effort of my ghostlike charms_**  
 ** _I have seen grown men give out a shriek_**  
 ** _With the wave of my hand and a well-placed moan_**  
 ** _I have swept the very bravest of their feet._**

 ** _Yet, year after year, it's the same routine_**  
 ** _And I grow so weary of the sound of screams._**  
 ** _And I, Jack, the Pumpkin King_**  
 ** _Have grown so tired of the same old thing._**

Merida eavesdropped on the whole thing. She listens as Jack poured his heart out into heartwarming song of emotion. Jack slowly walked up to the edge of a cliff to a small hill as he bathed in the illuminant light of the full moon, ever so bright on this dark Halloween night.

 _ **Oh, somewhere deep inside of these bones  
An emptiness began to grow.**_  
 ** _There's something out there, far from my home_**  
 ** _A longing that I've never known._**

Looking down at his ghostly pet of a dog, Bolt looked at his master with concern.

 ** _I'm a master of light and a demon of light_**  
 ** _And I'll share you right out of your pants._**  
 ** _To a guy in Kentucky, I'm Mr. Unlucky_**  
 ** _And I'm known throughout England and France._**

 ** _And since I am dead, I can take off my head_**  
 ** _To recite Shakespearian quotations._**  
 ** _No animal nor man can scream like I can_**  
 ** _With the fury of my recitations._**

 ** _But who here would ever understand_**  
 ** _That the Pumpkin King with the skeleton grin_**  
 ** _Would tire of his crown, if they only understood_**  
 ** _He'd give it all up if he only could?_**

Merida gasped and hid back behind her hiding spot as Jack started to take steps down the steep edge of the hill without even slipping.

 ** _Oh, there's an empty place in my bones_**  
 ** _That calls out for something unknown._**  
 ** _The fame and praise come year after year_**  
 ** _Does nothing for these empty tears._**

He left the graveyard with a heavy heart and entered the forest ahead of him with Bolt following him. Having overhead his song of depression, Merida felt sympathy and remorse for the poor lad.

"Jack, I know how you feel." She said sadly.

Merida came upon a garden on deadly, poisonous weeds and plants that she had been growing to use on her mother. There was the deadly nightshade, witch hazel, wolfsbane, etc. She collected a few herbs and returned back home, putting them into a jar labeled "Deadly Nightshade" and placing it in a cupboard for safe keeping. That's when she heard a familiar sound of wheels coming down the stone flight of flat stairs.

"Merida." Her mother's voice called.

The rag doll girl quickly closed the cupboard and turned to face her mother holding a lantern and giving her an almost smug stare.

"You came back." smirked Elinor.

"I had to." Her daughter/creation said.

"For this?" Elinor presented Merida's disembodied arm which waved at her.

"Yes." Merida answered meekly.

"Shall we, then?"

With a defeated sigh, Merida walked up the steps with her wheelchair-bound mother close behind her. Elinor brought her into her science laboratory and had her strapped to the table she was brought to life on while she restitched her daughter's arm on.

"That's twice this month you've slipped deadly nightshade into my tea and run off." Elinor scolded.

"Three times." corrected Merida.

"You're mine, you know!" Elinor shouted in her face. "I made you! With my own two hands."

"You can make other creations, mum." Merida suggested. "I'm restless. I can't help it."

"It's just a phase, dear. It will pass. It always does." Her mother dismissed. "You just need to be patient. That's all."

"But I don't wanna be patient." Merida sighed.

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you've enjoyed this first chapter. I really enjoy the aspects of The Nightmare Before Christmas. The songs are kind of my favorite part. Please leave some reviews and see you all in the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Since the holiday of screams and terrors is coming up, I thought I could add a few more chapters to this. I may nat finish this by Halloween, per say, but I might get enough chapters to spark your interest to celebrate and go trick-or-treating. Happy Halloween! Read and review.**

* * *

While Jack continued on with his lonesome walk on his own, Bolt barked persistently as he chased after his master, still wandering aimlessly in his sad state. He was desperate for him to play with him, but Jack was just not feeling it.

"No, Bolt. Not now." Jack told his pet. "I'm not in the mood."

But the little ghost dog wouldn't take a hint as he floated in front of Jack, persisting further with his barking.

Jack sighed and said, "Alright."

He reached into his coat and pulled out one of his rib bones for him to fetch.

"Here you go, boy. Fetch." He waved the "stick" around to get his attention and tossed it behind him, letting the dog spirit chase after it. At first, he couldn't find it. Then he made his eyes glow and used them as flashlights and found the bone inside of hole on a tree. He picked it up with his mouth and followed after Jack.

* * *

The next morning as the sun arose, bathing the dark Halloween Town in his basking ray of light, Jason, the Creeper, Jigsaw, Victor Crowley and Samara slept outside of the gate to Jack's quaint little house on top a steep hill. They each snored as the morning sunlight slowly painted the land and immediately awoke to the sounds of popping and clanking. Mayor Sandy parked his vehicle next to the group with a bright smile on his face. The small golden man hopped out the car with rolls of blueprints under his arm.

"Morning, gents." He greeted his citizens.

"Top of the morning, mayor." greeted back the Creeper.

The Mayor went up to the gate and opened it, making it creak, and walked the steps to Jack's front door, humming " _This is Halloween_ " to himself along the way. He rung the doorbell, which made a loud, girlish scream of terror. Mayor Sandy stood patiently as he hummed cheerfully and waited. After a few seconds, there was no answer. There wasn't even the sound of footsteps coming downstairs or anything. The Mayor waved at the group by the gate and rang the bell again.

"Jack, you home?" He called. That ever-so-delicate smile on his face faltered and morphed into a worried frown. He began to feel anxious and knocked on the door.

"Jack!" He called again, trying to remain positive. "I've got the plans for next Halloween!"

He grabbed one of the rolls from under his arm and unrolled it to show some handmade blueprints for some Halloween preparations, but still he received no answer.

"I need to go over them with you so we can get started."

He dropped the rest of the blueprints and his smile fell once more as he began to panic as he still got no response at all.

"Jack, please. I'm only an elected official, here. I can't make decisions by myself." He begged and pulled out his megaphone.

"JACK! ANSWER ME!" He shouted with fear and screamed when he slipped and fell tumbling down the steps and impacted against the gate doors while the group just watched with worry. The Mayor groaned in pain as he tried to regain his senses.

"He's not home." replied Victor Crowley.

"Then where is he?" The Mayor asked.

"He hasn't been home all night." Jigsaw told him.

Mayor Sandy moaned, wondering where his most trusted Halloween icon could have gone at such a busy time.

"I heard he went into the graveyard last night to be alone." Samara brought up. "You know how it is. Everyone needs a little breath of fresh air after a long night of work."

"He should be back soon." The Creeper replied. "I hope."

* * *

The Pumpkin King himself was still trudging through the forest with Bolt close behind, seemingly have fallen asleep while walking. His eyes fluttered open when the sunlight landed upon them. Jack stretched and yawned as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Where are we?" He moaned groggily.

As his thoughts gathered themselves and his vision cleared up, Jack got a good look at the landscape he was currently walking in. He had been in many places of the forest all his life, but he had never been in this one before.

"Why, it's someplace new." The curious Jack exclaimed with eyes full of wonder.

Interestingly enough, right before him in the middle of a clearing was a group of trees lined up perfectly in a circle.

"What is this?" He said as he stumbled into the circle.

The familiar sighting of it stroked Jack's curiosity finely. On each one the trees was a door and each one was shaped as a holiday-themed portrait big enough to be doors, which they were. There was a heart, an easter egg, a four-leaf clover and so forth. But Jack gasped in surprise when his eyes captured the sight of a one particular door shaped like triangular tree with spike that was decorated with lights and multicolored balls with a shiny star at the top. It shined bright in Jack's face as his lips crept into a wide smile. He eyed the colorful door with much interest and felt drawn to open it. _"What could this be?"_ , he thought to himself. Was this the one thing missing in his life? Was this the new environment he needed? Could this change his life forever? Jack probably could have asked more question as he walked toward the door and grabbed the knob. He opened the door wide to find...nothing. There was only darkness inside. Jack took a closer look inside only to see nothing that he was expecting. Feeling disappointed, he turned to Bolt and shrugged in confusion. But all of the sudden, a flurry of snowflakes accompanied by a chilly gust of wind latched onto to Jack and he felt himself being pulled into the opening. He grabbed onto the door tightly, but the force was so strong, he yanked him down into the darkness and the door slammed shut after that. Bolt barked profusely.

Jack fell into a swirling portal of snowflakes and sparkles and in the blink of in eye, there came a blinding ray of white light. Jack's swirling came to a stop and he removed his hands from his head and shook it to see he was sitting in a field covered in snow and he smiled when he saw a bright and colorful town just down the hill he was on. It had a rather cheerful vibe to it, very much different from the monotonous and cold atmosphere of Halloween Town. There were buildings of various colors and decorations related to the ones on the tree-shaped door. Jack leaned in to get a closer look, but felt his hand sink into the ground. He picked up a handful of snow and took a small bite out of it. It was very cold and flavorless. He saw a choo-choo train that whistled as it ran along the tracks and it looked as if it were made of some kind of candy. There stood a larger tree like the door in the middle of a frozen lake with small men dressed in strange clothing skating around the frozen surface. That's right. There were no monsters, no leafless trees, no twisted decor of any kind that Jack was accustomed to as far as the eye could see. Jack leaned in to get an even closer look, but he leaned a little too far and ended up slipping on the white mass and fell straight into the town and right into a pile of snow. He popped his head out of the pile and looked around.

 ** _JACK: What's this? What's this?_**  
 ** _There's color everywhere_**  
 ** _What's this?_**  
 ** _There's white things in the air_**

He gingerly clutched a single snowflake and it broke apart against the carrot nose of a snowman made of three balls of snow.

 ** _What's this?_**  
 ** _I can't believe my eyes_**  
 ** _I must be dreaming_**  
 ** _Wake up, Jack! This isn't fair!_**  
 ** _What's this?_**

He quickly disguised himself as the snowman when a parade of singing little men came by.

 _ **What's this? What's this?**_  
 _ **There's something very wrong**_  
 _ **What's this?**_  
 _ **There's people singing songs**_

 _ **What's this?**_  
 _ **The streets are lined with little creatures laughing**_  
 _ **Everybody seems so happy**_  
 _ **Have I possibly gone daffy?**_  
 _ **What is this? What's this?**_

Jack jumped out of the snowman, breaking it apart, causing a couple tiny men on a wind-up polar bear to stop in their tracks in confusion. Jack was now viewing some small children throwing balls made of snow at each other and laughing.

 _ **There's children throwing snowballs**_  
 _ **Instead of throwing heads**_  
 _ **They're busy making toys**_  
 _ **And absolutely no one's dead!**_

He grabbed some of the colored lights with an umbrella and gazed upon them.

 _ **There's frost on every window**_  
 _ **Oh, I can't believe my eyes!**_  
 _ **And in my bones, I feel the warmth**_  
 _ **That's coming from inside**_

Jack then peeked through the window of a door to see two men standing underneath a mistletoe. One of them kisses the cheek of the other one, who blushes.

 ** _Oh, look! What's this?_**  
 ** _They're hanging mistletoe! They kiss?_**  
 ** _Oh, that looks so unique! Inspired!_**  
 ** _They're gathering around to hear a story_**  
 ** _Roasting chestnuts by the fire_**  
 ** _What's this?_**

Looking further, they were decorating a tree of their own.

 ** _What's this?_**  
 ** _In here, they've got a little tree? How queer!_**  
 ** _And who would ever think?_**  
 ** _And why?_**

 ** _They're covering it with tiny things_**  
 ** _They've got electric lights on strings_**  
 ** _There's a smile on everyone_**  
 ** _So, now, correct me if I'm wrong_**

 ** _This looks like fun_**  
 ** _This looks like fun_**  
 ** _Oh, could it be I got my wish?_**  
 ** _What's this?_**

He danced around the town, hopping from rooftop to rooftop until he stumbled upon one house and peeked through the window. The white-haired boy opened the window and crawled inside to find the children asleep in their bunk beds and some inside drawers.

 _ **Oh, my! What now?**_  
 _ **The children are asleep**_  
 _ **But look, there's nothing underneath**_  
 _ **No ghouls, no witches here to scream and scare them**_  
 _ **Or ensnare them, only cozy little things**_  
 _ **Secure inside their dreamland**_

Jack breathed a comfortable sigh as he laid his head near one of the child snug under the covers. But then Jack bolted away to view the rest of the town, scaring the child awake in the process. Jack perched on the brink wall of some kind of factory where the little people came be seen inside, constructing toys.

 _ **What's this?**_  
 _ **The monsters are all missing**_  
 _ **And no nightmares can be found**_  
 _ **And in there place there seems to be**_  
 _ **Good feeling all around**_

 _ **Instead of scream,**_  
 _ **I can swear I hear music in the air**_  
 _ **The smell of cakes and pies**_  
 _ **Are absolutely everywhere**_

Jack dropped from his umbrella after seeing confectionary inside a shop and landed on a moving carousel.

 ** _The sights, the sounds_**  
 ** _They're everywhere and all around_**  
 ** _I've never felt so good before_**  
 ** _This empty place inside of me is filling up_**  
 ** _I simply cannot get enough_**

 ** _I want it! Oh, I want it!_**  
 ** _Oh, I want it for my own_**  
 ** _I've got to know_**  
 ** _I've got to know_**  
 ** _What is this place that I have found?_**  
 ** _What is this?_**

Jack hopped off of a train and landed in the cold snow. Feeling like he had finally found what he was looking for, the ecstatic Jack cannot help but run around in the snow with a spring in his step. Suddenly, his moment of joy was disrupted when he ran into a pole and fell into the snow. He sat up and read what the sign on the pole said.

"Christmas Town?" He said and rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmmm..."

There came a loud whistle and Jack saw a light from inside the factory spread in the shadows as a door opened and the shadow of a large man spread across the snow.

"Ho ho ho! Ho ho ho!" Shouted the man's voice.

"Hmm." Jack hummed with though, hiding behind the pole. If he was going to change his environment and not having to do the exact, same old holiday every year, this was going to be the change he needed.

* * *

Back at Halloween Town, the inhabitants were becoming increasingly worried and scared over Jack's absence. How were they going to bring Halloween without him. He always brought the fear and ghoulish delight much more than they did.

"This had never happened before!" Pennywise panicked.

"It's suspicious!" Winnie exclaimed.

"It's peculiar!" agreed Sarah.

"It's scary!" Dracula and Barnabas said together.

Then Mayor Sandy broke through the crowd forming, receiving a snarl from the Wolfman, and cried, "Stand aside! Coming through!"

He climbed up the ladder to the hood of his hearse and felt flat on his face in the process. He got to his feet and pulled the speaker to his mouth.

 _"We've got to find Jack!"_ announced Mayor Sandy. _"We've only got 365 days left until next Halloween!"_

"364!" The Wolfman corrected.

 _"Are you sure there isn't anywhere we forgot to check?"_ asked the Mayor.

"Well, I looked in every mausoleum!" answered Pennywise.

"We opened up the sarcophagi!" The Sanderson sisters added.

"And disturbed my slumber as well!" said the mummy, Imhotep, with annoyance.

"We said we were sorry." Mary defended.

"I checked the graveyard and he's nowhere there anymore." Kayako responded. "I was absolutely sure he'd still be there."

"We tried looking through the alleyways, but still nothing." Chucky added.

"The poor boy must be lost and cold." His wife, Tiffany, said with remorse for the white-haired boy's life.

"I trumped through the pumpkin patch." said Dr. Hyde as he came by with a pumpkin stuck on his foot.

"I peeked behind the cyclops' eye." Dracula stated, pulling his right eyeball out of his socket.

Barnabas elbowed him sharply, making the vampire king release his eye, allowing it to fall back in place.

"I did!" He elaborated. "But he wasn't there."

"You are embarrassing me, dad!" Mavis hissed and sighed. "I really hope he's okay."

Word to the wise, Mavis has had a romantic, sexual relationship with Jack in the past. She has always been in love with the boy before he became the Pumpkin King. They shared their first kiss in the bog and things between them became sensual. They would often have make love together in the darkest nights and in the scariest places they could find as their definition of a romantic evening. But sadly, Mavis's father was compelled to break them up, despite that he loved seeing them together. Mavis and Jack decided to call it quits on their relationship and remain close friends from now on. But Mavis still held romantic feelings for him since then.

 _"We've got to sound the alarms!"_ Mayor Sandy groused.

Imhotep rolled around the lever of a cat-shaped alarm and it let out a blaring cat's yowl. As this went on, Merida looked out the window of her house. She was preparing a soup for her mother. But by "soup", the proper term would be "sedative". That's right, dear reader. She was going to put her mother out unconscious and sneak out again. Merida opened up a cupboard and grabbed the bottle of deadly nightshade. She nodded with approval and poured some into her boiling cauldron. It slushed out like slime and the concoction hissed and emitted a skull-shaped smoke. Merida gagged at the stench it produced and held her nose. To try and eliminate the fumes, she grabbed a can from the shelf.

"Frog's breath should overpower any odor." She said as she unscrewed the cap and a frog poked it's head out of the bottle.

Merida cringed in disgust as she held the bottle over the concoction and the frog belched into it, emitting a jet of green gas. Now the smell was even worse and Merida coughed. It made her eyes water and her oxygen grow weak. Her body became like jelly and she had trouble keeping herself from passing out.

"Bitter." She gagged as she staggered over to the cabinet. "Worm's wart. Where is that worm's wart?"

She flung open the doors and tossed out random bottles and vials until she found what she needed.

"Merida!" called her mother from the upper level. "Is that soup ready yet?"

The red-haired rag doll girl poured the content from a bottle into the cauldron and the stench vanished, leaving behind a more delectable smell and Merida's sighed in relief.

"Coming!" She called to her mother.

Upstairs, Elinor was working on an experiment. She was looking over x-ray pictures of human appendages through some spectacles. She scratched her head in thought as her daughter/creation came upstairs with a bowl of the soup that she made.

"Lunch!"

Elinor stopped her work to see her daughter enter with the soup as she placed it in front of her.

"Well, now. What do you have here?" She asked and sniffed it. "Ah, worm's wart."

She grabbed the spoon, scooped up some of the soup and sniffed it more slowly before looking suspicious. She had that instinctual feeling that her daughter was trying to knock her out again.

"And frog's breath?" asked Elinor.

"W-What's wrong?" Merida asked sheepishly, backing away a step. "I thought you liked frog's breath, mother."

"Oh, Merida. Nothing is more suspicious than frog's breath, unless you taste it." Elinor pushed the bowl closer to Merida and presented her with a spoonful of the soup. "I wouldn't dare swallow a spoonful."

"I'm not hungry." Her daughter said, smacking the spoon out of Elinor's hand. "Oops."

"You want me to starve? A paralyzed older woman like myself who barely has enough strength as it is. Me, the person who gave you you're very life."

Merida pushed the spoon underneath the table when her mother wasn't looking and pulled a spare spoon out of her sock, one that had holes in it. She was going to trick her mother by pretending to taste her poison without actually tasting it. She stopped up some and let it's contents spill out of the holes.

"Oh, don't be silly, mum." Merida shook her head and "sipped" the soup. "Mmm. Tastes scrumptious."

She placed the bowl back on the table in front of her mother. Against her better judgement, Elinor decided it was okay enough to eat and she picked the bowl up and drank from it while Merida watched her with a wicked smile.

* * *

The Mayor and the rest of the monsters sat around his hearse, tired and restless from the endless searching. Jack was not found anywhere and they had to get him back by the next Halloween. But where else could they look? Mayor Sandy laid on his back on the roof of his hearse.

"Did anyone even think to dredge the lake?" He whined.

"Ah, this morning!" Vicente replied with thought.

Their thoughts were interrupted by the distance sound of barking.

"Hear that?" Sarah asked with a hand to her ear for a better listen.

"Hear what?" groaned Mary, only to be shushed by Sarah.

Everyone listened carefully to the noise and it clicked in their heads. They automatically knew what it was and Mayor Sandy's frown turned upside down with joy.

"Bolt!" cried Lestat with delight.

The ghost dog phased through the town gates as they opened and Jack drove a snowmobile carrying a sack full of objects that he obtained in Christmas Town. The people of Halloween Town cheered at his arrival and started to crowd around him, but made room as he drove by. He parked right in front of the Mayor's hearse.

"Where have you been, Jack?" asked Mayor Sandy.

"Sorry about the confusion, but you won't believe what I've stumbled upon." Jack crowed. "Call a town meeting and I'll tell everyone all about it!"

"When?" The Mayor stuttered.

"Immediately!" demanded Jack.

As soon as his order got out, the bells of the church chimed and the Mayor drove out the town in his hearse to spread the word.

 _"Town meeting. Town meeting. Town meeting tonight."_ He announced through his megaphone.

Meanwhile, Merida placed a blanket over her unconscious mother as the old scientist snored away. Merida patted her on the head and quietly slipped out of the house.

* * *

 **A/N: So there's the second chapter. Happy Halloween!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for taking so long to update this. I've been so focused on other stories to continue this one. So that it's close to Halloween, I can finally work on a few more chapters to this. So here's the next chapter and please enjoy. Happy Halloween!**

* * *

That night at the stroke of midnight, the citizens of Halloweentown mobilized at the Town Hall as ordered by Jack. If he wanted to share his idea with him, he wanted to do it in theater form. Every monster and ghoul gathered inside of the Town Hall. The Sanderson sisters, the Addams family, the vampires, Wolfman, Freddy, Jason, Michael, Leatherface and his family, the Creeper, the Djinn and so forth.

Ginormica, despite being to humungous, was inside as the establishment as well, as she can change size at will. Merida, of course, was among the townsfolk looking for a seat when she was nearly knocked over by a passing Pennywise who smiled wickedly at her as he passed her. As everyone chattered among themselves, Jack then made his presence known as he walked up to the podium on the stage.

"Listen, everyone." He announced loudly to the crowd of abnormalities. "I want to tell you all about Christmastown."

At that moment, Mayor Sandy was operating the light from above and went he switched it on to focus it on Jack, the bats sleeping on the lens were awakened from their snooze upon the sudden bright light and flew all about. And then Jack began his presentation to his good people.

 _ **JACK: There were objects so peculiar**_  
 _ **They were not to be believed**_  
 _ **All around, things to tantalize my brain**_

 _ **It's a world unlike anything I've ever seen**_  
 _ **And as hard as I try**_  
 _ **I can't seem to describe**_  
 _ **Like a most improbable dream**_

 _ **But you must believe when I tell you this**_  
 _ **It's as real as my skull and it does exist**_  
 _ **Here, let me show you**_

Once Jack pulled the curtains by the rope, he revealed a bright and beautiful Christmas tree presented on the stage, covered with colorful lights, decorated with joyful ornaments, surrounded by gayly-wrapped presents in different shapes and sizes and, last but not least, topped with a shiny tree topper star. All monsters and ghouls in the theater all gasped with shock and surprise; eyes bulging out of their skulls as they eyes the curiously-strange scene before them.

"Ooh!" Merida was most amazed by this new, welcoming anomaly that Jack displayed for them. Back on the stage, Jack picked up a singular present to show them.

 ** _This is a thing called a present_**  
 ** _The whole thing starts with a box_**

"A box?" repeated Freddy in a questioning manner. "Is it steel?"

"Are there locks?" asked the Wolfman.

"Is it filled with a pox?" The Creeper asked next.

"A pox?" Freddy remarked with sudden interest. "How delightful, a pox."

"If you please." Jack silenced them with a sigh before continuing his melodic presentation.

 ** _Just a box with bright-colored paper_**  
 ** _And the whole thing's topped with a bow_**

Then the Sandersons flew over to him into his personal space on the stage with their broomsticks, hoping to get a closer glimpse to the pretty present.

 _ **SANDERSONS: A bow?**_  
 _ **But why?**_  
 _ **How ugly**_  
 _ **What's in it?**_  
 _ **What's in it?**_

 _ **JACK: That's the point of the thing. Not to know.**_

But while he had his focus on the nosey witch sisters surrounding him, the present was snatched from his arms by Pennywise when he extended his arm out and brought to his face to check it out for himself.

 ** _PENNYWISE: It's a bat_**  
 ** _DJINN: Will it bend?_**  
 ** _PENNYWISE: It's a rat_**  
 ** _DJINN: Will it break?_**  
 ** _THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON: Perhaps it's the head that I found in the lake_**

Jack took back the present from Pennywise's hands, growing somewhat annoyed by their interrupting questions.

 _ **JACK: Listen now, you don't understand**_  
 _ **That's not the point of Christmas Land**_

 _ **Now, pay attention**_  
 _ **We pick up an oversized sock**_  
 _ **And hand it like this on the wall**_

The next time Jack grabbed to present to everything in Town Hall was a red stocking and held against the wall to demonstrate on where it's supposed to go when hung up by there fireplace. Then Mr. Hyde approached him.

 ** _MR. HYDE: Oh, yes! Does it still have a foot?_**  
 ** _KAYAKO SAEKI: Let me see, let me look!_**  
 ** _SAMARA MORGAN: It is rotted and covered with gook?_**

"Let me explain." Jack reminded them as calmly as he could.

 _ **JACK: There's no foot inside, but there's candy**_  
 _ **And sometimes it's filled with small toys.**_

 _ **PUGSLEY AND WEDNESDAY: Small toys?**_  
 _ **Do they bite?**_  
 _ **Do they snap?**_  
 _ **Or explode in a sack?**_

 _ **ALMA WADE: Or perhaps they just spring out**_  
 _ **And scare girls and boys**_

 _ **MAYOR SANDY: What a splendid idea**_  
 _ **This Christmas sounds fun**_  
 _ **I fully endorse it**_  
 _ **Let's try it at once**_

The small Mayor almost lost his footing from above the rafters, accidentally knocking the stage light around. But Jack had to slow them down and try to spell it out for them as they were getting a tad bit too overexcited.

 _ **JACK: Everyone, please now, not so fast**_  
 _ **There's something here you don't quite grasp**_

This got everyone chattering over each other, wondering how they were going to understand this new holiday known as Christmas. Merida, on the other hand, was silently pondering Jack's decision to switch to this new celebration. Yes, she knew Jack was tired of the same old thing every year, but now she was afraid that he was forgetting who he truly was. Jack started to make his way through the audience as he sang his next verse.

 _ **Well, I may as well give them what they want**_  
 _ **And the best, I must confess, I have save for the last**_  
 _ **For the ruler of the Christmas Land**_  
 _ **Is a fearsome king with a deep, mighty voice**_  
 _ **Least that's what I've come to understand.**_

Jack came and poked the Fly on the nose, getting his finger moist from his gross and slimy flesh before going to place his hands on Leatherface's shoulders, making the ugly, skin-masked maniac stare at him.

 _ **And I've also heard it told**_  
 _ **That he's something to behold**_  
 _ **Like a lobster, huge and red**_  
 _ **When he sets out to slay with his rain gear on**_  
 _ **Carting bulging sacks with his big great arms**_  
 _ **That is, so I've heard it said**_

 _ **And on a dark, cold night**_  
 _ **Under full moonlight**_  
 _ **He flies into a fog**_  
 _ **Like a vulture in the sky**_  
 _ **And they call him Sandy Claws**_

He finished his gone at the final verse with a dark, sinister chuckle and a psychotic, toothy grin to top it all off. Everyone in the Town Hall all applauded and cheered at his presentation. After Jack takes a bow to the captive audience, he lumbers behind the stage just as the curtains pull, covering the scene.

 _ **Well, at least they're excited**_  
 _ **But they don't understand**_  
 _ **That special king of feeling in Christmas Land**_  
 _ **Oh, well...**_

He took out a snow globe and shook it, making it snow inside before placing it on the table to give it a wondering look. Needless to say, even _he_ didn't understand the wonder and explanation behind the spirit and holiday of Christmas.

* * *

Once in his home, Jack donned his pajamas and sat in his bedroom by the warm fireplace, desperate for the answers to Christmas. But after looking through book after book after book, he just couldn't find what he was looking for. The only thing books in Halloweentown ever talk about are scary things such as how to kill an unsuspecting victim or the best way to frighten children or the best of kitchen knives.

Nothing about Christmas in any one of them and Jack was growing more desperate and utterly restless in his quest for knowledge. However, fortunately, he had kept some Christmas-themed books and novels in his personal library like A Christmas Carol and The Nutcracker. But, neither of them gave Jack the information he wanted. Looking all around his room upon the Christmas decorations he put up along with Bolt asleep in his bed with a candy cane in his mouth, Jack knew he had to find some kind of explanation.

"There's got to be a logical way to explain this Christmas thing." Jack wondered out loud, then brightened with an idea. He pulled out a book about science. If any of the normal book he had wouldn't help him out, then he'll just have to look for a more scientific approach.

* * *

The next morning at Elinor's castle, the paralyzed mad scientist awoke with a splitting headache and knew all too well what that meant. She was quite pissed at Merida for sedating her once again that she had banished the doll girl to her room as punishment.

"You poisoned me for the last time, you wretched girl." Elinor growled while holding an ice pick to her sore head before she slammed the door shut. Just then, the doorbell rang loudly all around the house, which only made her headache worse from the loud noise.

"Oh, my head." She whined in agony from the pain in her noggin as she rode her wheelchair over to the balcony. "The door is open!"

Whoever was at the door opened it, revealing the visitor to be none other than Jack.

"Hello?" He called.

"Jack Frost!" Elinor beamed with surprise, which Merida overheard from in her room, making her smile with glee to see that Jack was in her home at this very moment. "Up here, my lad."

"Doctor, if you don't mind at all, I need to borrow some equipment." Jack explained as he made his way up the spiral staircase.

"Is that so?" asked Elinor. "Whatever for?"

"I'm conducting a series of important experiments and I believe you possess the proper tools best suited for my needs." explained Jack once he had reached the top floor to meet the old scientist face-to-face.

"How perfectly marvelous." She proclaimed. "Curiously killed the cat, you know."

"I know." Jack deadpanned, having heard this phrase before.

"Come on into the lab and we'll get you all fixed up." Elinor ordered, riding her way into her laboratory with Jack following behind.

Merida had her ear pressed against the door as she listened in on their conversation with curiosity of her own. And what Jack said caught her off-guard.

"Hmm. Experiments?"

* * *

When Jack had everything he needed, all the tools and beakers necessary for performing such experiments, he returned to his house and made his way into the bedroom.

"Bolt, I'm home."

Jack placed his suitcase on the table and took an assortment of beakers, surgical tools, test tubes, petri dishes and a microscope he had borrowed from Elinor, putting them on the table. This had to be the way to best explain Christmas and he needed to find out how it was made and how to do it properly. For his first experiment to start off with was a holly berry from a mistletoe.

He placed the tiny, red fruit on a slide and into the microscope. Looking in through the lens, he zoomed in on the berry for a closer look. However, he zoomed in too close and ended up squishing the berry against the lens, also breaking the slide in the process. For his next experiment, he hooked up a beaker filled with water to a large, electric battery, letting the water boil. He then dropped a candy cane into the beaker, creating a red cloud. But when he pulled it out to see the result, all he got was a colorless noodle.

Cutting a paper snowflake seemed simple enough, so he tried that next. Taking a sheet of paper and following instructions from a book, he folded it up and began to cut some basic triangle shapes on all three sides to the paper. But to both his shock and confusion, when he unfolded it to see what he did, it looked like a spider in a perfect cobweb, making his eyes widen at this impossible oddity.

Next, Jack had a teddy bear on a surgical table to dissect it. With a scalpel, he cut an incision on the bear's stomach from the neck down, revealing the cotton inside. He pulled out some of the fluff inside with a pair of tongs to examine it more closely with a magnifying glass. After hours of unsuccessful experiments, he had no such progress, but that wasn't going to stop him from getting the answers. For his next experiment, he grabbed an ornament from off the Christmas tree, crushed it over a beaker of boiling water and let the glass dust fall into it, which created an unnatural mint green glow.

"Interesting reaction!" chimed Jack with wondrous eyes, but still, none of the made any sense. "But what does it mean?"

Meanwhile, back in the confinements of her own room, Merida was concocting some potions for a gift basket she was making for Jack. After hearing about his experiments, she figured that he could use a little help. Her skills at alchemy and potion making didn't fail her yet. The doll girl opened up the window to lower the basket down with a rope and stopped with a frown, not wanting to upset her mother any more than she already had, but upon catching a glimpse of the bright green glow from Jack's house, her smile returned and with that, she leaped from the window and fell three stories down to the ground, causing the band to cringe and wince once their heard the thud nearby.

But luckily, this did not kill her, only broke her apart. Being a humanoid doll constructed of only flesh and stuff with leaves, she did not feel a thing. Merida retrieved her lost limbs and with the help of a knitting needle and some thread, she sewed her arms and legs back on so she grabbed the gift basket and continued on her path to Jack's place.

However, things take a turn for the worse for back in her now-deserted room, Elinor entered with a lantern, deciding she can come out now.

"You can come out now, Merida, if you promise to behave." She called out. Unfortunately, the wheelchair-bound woman looked around the room with her lantern in confusion at now receiving a response. "Merida? Merida?"

And, yeah. When she looked all around to see that the room had been abandoned and her stubborn daughter/creation was nowhere to be seen, Elinor snarled with burning fury in her eyes to realize that her rebellious hellion of a daughter had taken the chance to sneak out of her room...for the umpteenth time!

"Ooooh! _GONE AGAIN!_ " She roared, breaking the lantern onto the floor in anger as her eyes twitched.

* * *

Back in Jack's makeshift lab, he started writing down some questionable equations and calculations on a chalkboard, trying to better understand his experimentations. Sadly, he was never too good at math, so this combined with everything about Christmas and Santa Claus, it explained nothing as of yet. Jack was growing more confused and frustrated. What was could he be missing? What was he doing wrong? So many questions and not enough answers.

Just then, he heard a tap at his window and he rushed over to see the gift basket hanging on a rope. Looking downward, there stood Merida looking up at him with a warm smile as she waved at him. Jack waved back with a smile. He grabbed the basket off the hook and took out a potion bottle, took out the cork, which released green mist that formed a lovely butterfly shape.

When Jack leaned back out the window to saw thank-you, he saw that she was now gone, much to his confusion. Nevertheless, he brought the gift basket inside while Merida hid behind the stone wall near the front gate. Apparently, she got a bit squeamish when facing her crush.

Then Merida picked up a forget-me-not flower and after plucked two of it's petals, it began to transformed before her very eyes into a miniature Christmas tree, doing a tiny spin before it's cheerful facade was cut short and things went downhill fast. The tiny tree burst into flames and burned until there was nothing, but a scorched, black stick in her hands. The shocked Merida realized what this meant.

If Jack were to purse doing Christmas, then things will go bad eventually for both holiday worlds. Merida was speechless and now a bit concerned for Jack's wellbeing. She had to try and dissuade him from following this fantasy and see who he was meant to be.

* * *

The next morning, Merida had slept by Jack's entrance gate that night and once the morning sun rose above the land and the rooster cawed, the denizens of Halloweentown sang their own concern for their precious icon.

 ** _VAMPIRES: Something's up with Jack_**  
 ** _Something's up with Jack_**  
 ** _Don't know if we're ever_**  
 ** _Going to get him back_**

 ** _WOLFMAN: He's all alone in there_**  
 ** _Locked away inside_**  
 ** _MORTICIA: Never says a word_**  
 ** _PUGSLEY: Hope he hasn't died_**

 ** _VAMPIRES: Something's up with Jack_**  
 ** _Something's up with Jack_**

If what they say is true, then Jack must be off his nut about this whole Christmas business. Merida looked up at the window to see Jack pacing inside, still pondering everything he had learned.

 ** _JACK: Christmas time is buzzing in my skull_**  
 ** _Will it let me be? I cannot tell_**  
 ** _There's so many things I cannot grasp_**  
 ** _When I think I've got it, and then at last_**  
 ** _Through my bony fingers it does slip_**  
 ** _Like a snowflake in a fiery grip_**

 ** _Something here I'm not quite getting_**  
 ** _Though I try, I keep forgetting_**  
 ** _Like a memory long since past_**  
 ** _Here in an instant, gone in a flash_**  
 ** _What does it mean?_**  
 ** _What does it mean?_**

 ** _In these little bric-a-brac_**  
 ** _A secret's waiting to be cracked_**  
 ** _These dolls and toys confuse me so_**  
 ** _Confound it all, I love it though_**

 ** _Simple objects, nothing more_**  
 ** _But something's hidden through a door_**  
 ** _Though I do not have the key_**  
 ** _Something's there I cannot see_**  
 ** _What does it mean?_**  
 ** _What does it mean?_**  
 ** _What does it mean?_**  
 ** _Hmm..._**

 ** _I've read these Christmas books so many times_**  
 ** _I know the stories and I know the rhymes_**  
 ** _I know the Christmas carols all by heart_**  
 ** _My skull's so full, it's tearing me apart_**  
 ** _As often as I've read them, something's wrong_**  
 ** _So hard to put my bony finger on_**

 ** _Or perhaps it's really not as deep_**  
 ** _As I've been led to think_**  
 ** _Am I trying much too hard?_**  
 ** _Of course! I've been too close to see_**  
 ** _The answer's right in front of me_**  
 ** _Right in front of me_**

 ** _It's simple really, very clear_**  
 ** _Like music drifting in the air_**  
 ** _Invisible, but everywhere_**  
 ** _Just because I cannot see it_**  
 ** _Doesn't mean I can't believe it_**

 ** _You know, I think this Christmas thing_**  
 ** _It's not as tricky as it seems_**  
 ** _And why should they have all the fun?_**  
 ** _It should belong to anyone_**

 ** _Not anyone, in fact, but me_**  
 ** _Why, I could make a Christmas tree_**  
 ** _And there's no reason I can find_**  
 ** _I couldn't handle Christmas time_**

 ** _I bet I could improve it too_**  
 ** _And that's exactly what I'll do_**  
 ** _Hee, hee, hee!_**

Now determined and confident that he will succeed in his attempt in Christmas, Jack cackled as he watched the Christmas light spark and burst when he activated the electric chair. Then jamming his head outside his window, he shouted his excitement to his fellow monsters.

"Eureka! This year, Christmas will be _OOUUURRRRRRRRRSSSSS!_ "

Everyone cheered and applauded to their brave and noble icon. Everyone, all but Merida, of course, who was growing ever fearful of things to come when Jack becomes to new Santa Claus to deliver presents to the children. He has to be risking his life here. But how can she get through to him?

* * *

 **So there's the new chapter for you guys. I'm glad that you guys were patient enough. Happy Halloween!**


End file.
